There are many different types of electrical cordsets that are used in differing environments and applications. One rather specialized environment for such cordsets is where there is a high pressure application or hostile environment. An example of such an application is in the use of a position sensor where a sensor is located within a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, typically used with outdoor heavy construction equipment, to sense the position of a piston moving within the cylinder. Such sensors are subjected to the high pressures internal of the cylinder and the signals from that internal sensor must be transmitted to a control system that provides power to the sensor while receiving the sensed signals from that sensor to determine the position of the piston within the cylinder. The sensor itself is in a hostile environment as is the particular heavy construction equipment and, therefore, it is mandatory that a cordset connecting the sensor within that environment to the control system also be capable of withstanding the external environment while reliably transmitting the electrical signals.
One such sensor used in that environment is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,861 entitled “PRECISION SENSOR FOR A HYDRAULIC CYLINDER” and which, in turn, is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,061, issued on May 22, 2001, entitled “PRECISION SENSOR FOR A HYDRAULIC CYLINDER” and the disclosure of both of the foregoing issued U.S. patents are hereby incorporated into this specification by reference.
In the aforesaid patents, there is described a high pressure sensor connector having various male conductive pins that is provided at the sensor. It is desirable to have a cordset to electrically connect that sensor connector to the control system that is located external of the hydraulic component so that the signals from the sensor can be reliably transmitted between that sensor and the control system that both provides power to the sensor and receives the position sensing signals from the sensor to interpret and use those signals in the operation and control of the equipment.
One of such cordsets is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,545 to Glasson, entitled “Electrical cordset with integral signal conditioning circuitry”. In that patent, there is a pair of electrical connectors at the ends of the cordset with a casing having signal conditioning circuitry located intermediate those ends. While the cordset of the Glasson patent is a good, usable cordset, there are some drawbacks that could be eliminated in order to create an improved cordset for use in the same environment
Some of the drawbacks surrounding the cordset of the Glasson patent concern the degree of difficulty of installing the device for typical field service personnel, the potential breakage of the relatively small pins and the cost of manufacture.
Accordingly it would be advantageous to provide a cordset that is applicable to the harsh conditions of the cordset of the Glasson patent while overcoming the drawbacks so as to have a yet better cordset with a signal conditioning circuit that is easier to install, more robust from the standpoint of the pins and which can be manufactured at a lower cost.